Deadline: 20-Jul-21
The U.S. Embassy Nur-Sultan Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Department of State is looking for one to three partners to implement three nationwide skills-building programs at Kazakhstan’s ten American Corners.
PAS is soliciting proposals from Kazakhstani and U.S. not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations to conduct programs on entrepreneurship, English writing, and promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with key audiences across Kazakhstan.
These programs will share American values and culture and build the capacity of the patrons of the American Corners in Kazakhstan. Proposals addressing all three projects are welcome if the applicant can demonstrate the capacity to effectively implement all of them.
Themes
- Theme 1: Empowering Youth through Entrepreneurship, Job Creation, and Innovation
- Goal: The American Corners will offer a countrywide program to support Kazakhstan’s economic growth by promoting entrepreneurial values through training.
- Objectives
- Teach 200 youth participants essential soft skills for career development for up to three months. Through a series of classes, the target audience will develop soft skills, learn how to build/plan their careers, and learn basic financial literacy tools.
- Increase entrepreneurial knowledge and business skills of 200 youth participants so that they can create and scale their projects within a three-month period. The participants should be able to apply business concepts (i.e., audience/customer analysis, marketing, pricing, increasing sales, record-keeping etc.) to develop an “action plan” of concrete steps to start or improve their businesses.
- Priority Audiences
- Youth, 14-25 years old, at least 50% women and girls
- High school and college students
- Young professionals, such as current/aspiring entrepreneurs
- Theme 2: Promoting Study in the United States
- Goal: American Corners will offer a countrywide English writing workshop on the U.S. college admission process to strengthen students’ English writing ability, which will lead to an increase in the number of Kazakhstani students applying and admitted to U.S. institutions. The project should also actively engage U.S. exchange program alumni and EducationUSA in these efforts, who can be recommended by the American Corners or Mission Kazakhstan.
- Objectives
- Teach 200 youth and high school/college counselors about the U.S. higher education system, how and when to apply to colleges, how to apply for scholarships, etc., through a training program of up to six months.
- Teach 200 students and high school/college counselors supporting students interested in studying in the United States on how to effectively write competitive essays.
- Priority Audiences
- High school and university students
- Young professionals
- High school and college counselors/international office representatives
- Theme 3: Bootcamp for Teachers: Mentoring STEM Projects
- Goal: The American Corners will host a countrywide virtual STEM bootcamp for teachers to advance innovation, environmental stewardship (priority will be given to proposals focused on climate change or air quality), and support Kazakhstan’s economic diversification by promoting technology and innovation.
- Objectives
- Engage 100 STEM teachers from across STEM disciplines in a series of interactive sessions for professional development training, facilitated by experts and experienced STEM educators.
- Train 100 STEM teachers how to better mentor students outside the classroom and motivate students to participate in extra-curricular STEM-related opportunities, for example Maker Space projects, STEM subject-related Olympiads.
- Priority Audiences
- STEM teachers at secondary schools
- Teachers from economically disadvantaged cities
Funding Information
- Estimated Award Ceiling: $30,500
- Estimated Award Floor: $2,500
- Estimated Total Project Funding: 1-3
- Length of Project Period: 9-12 months
- Anticipated program start date: September, 2021
Priority Region
- In-person activities should be carried out in collaboration with one or more American Corner and Maker Space located in the following cities: Aktobe, Almaty, Karaganda, Kostanay, Nur-Sultan, Oskemen, Oral, Pavlodar, Petropavlovsk, and Shymkent.
Eligibility Criteria
The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- Not-for-profit organizations
- Civil Society/non-governmental organizations
- Think tanks
- Public and private educational institutions
- Individuals
Organizations may sub-contract with other entities, but only one, non-profit, non-governmental entity can be the prime recipient of the award. When sub-contracting with other entities, the responsibilities of each entity must be clearly defined in the proposal.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=334091
